November 1, 2018

Other Illnesses

Question from Canton, Michigan, USA:

Diagnosed with type 1 at age seven, my 16-year-old son has had celiac since he was eight, was anaphylactic to peanuts at 18 months and allergic to three antibiotics. Because they know celiac kids don't get immunity very well for Hep B from the shots in their first year, we had him tested and, sure enough, no immunity for Heb B. So, we got him a series last year and upon testing, yes, he did develop immunity. His pediatrician had him tested for mumps titers (because a local university has a small outbreak of mumps (four students). His mumps titers were "equivocal" which means he does not carry immunity even though I am up to date with ALL his shots, and on the recommended schedule. Why might he not be getting immunity from these shot? I am going to ask to see an immunologist for him, but have you heard of this before?

Answer:

This is a very difficult question. I think getting an immunologist evaluation is a good idea but I suspect it is not at all related to his having type 1 diabetes or another autoimmune problem like celiac disease. Your medical team should also have probably checked for other autoimmune problems that go together, i.e., Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and gastroparietal antibodies (pernicious anemia with folic acid and B2 deficiencies) as well as adrenal insufficiency (adrenalitis with cortisone deficiencies) since those are the others that may be involved. We know that there are specific HLA genes involved with such problems but the low immunity to infectious diseases is usually not similarly related.

SB

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Last Updated

Thursday, February 21, 2019 15:52:02 UTC

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Justin Delgado is husband to Kacie Doyle-Delgado, diagnosed at age 11. After more than a decade together, he considers himself to be an expert carb counter and Dexcom inserter. He graduated with his Master of Science in Finance from the University of Utah in 2013 and has been working in commercial banking since then. He attended his first Friends for Life conference in 2015 and is looking forward to volunteering with the teens.

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Kacie Doyle-Delgado, MSN, APRN, NP-C, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 11 and attended her first Friends for Life conference in 2002. Since then, she has attended several FFL and regional conferences. She earned her BSN and her MSN as a Family Nurse Practitioner at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, UT and she is currently enrolled in a DNP program. She works for Utah Physicians Care Center in a diabetes specialty clinic. Kacie lives in Salt Lake with her husband, Justin Delgado, and their dogs. She is looking forward to volunteering with the teens again.

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Marissa Town, BSN, RN, CDE, graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and later earned her Certified Diabetes Educator credential. She has had type 1 diabetes since the age of two and has grown up with a passion for helping families living with diabetes. Marissa is currently working as a research nurse at Stanford University. She has always enjoyed working with families with diabetes at Children with Diabetes conferences, camps, and support groups. She and her husband Adam have two young children, Connor and Everly.

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